Every year, millions of Americans young and old alike need medical attention due to injury or illness, or other conditions. When professional aid is needed, a nearby party can look online (if they need to) to find urgent care clinics in the area, or even find emergency care centers for more dire medical cases. An online search like that can show a variety of healthcare providers nearby, with the name, address, and hours of operation of each place clearly shown. If the patient needs help at an odd time of day, the helper can look up “urgent care near me 24 hrs” or “24 hour emergency care nearby” to find open clinics. It should also be noted that looking up “urgent care near me” is best for minor medical cases, and emergency situations indeed call for emergency aid right away. However, some medical clinics are hybrids that offer both urgent care and emergency care side by side, and they might come up in a search for “emergency care nearby” or “urgent care near me.” What comes next?
All About Emergency Medical Care
Only the most dire medical cases call for the help of an emergency room and the doctors and surgeons who work there. If a patient’s life is in danger, and/or if they have suffered a serious injury, it is time for this level of care. For example, a patient may have suffered a broken arm or leg, or they have sustained an eyeball wound or an injury to the head. Similarly, bullet wounds and stab wounds also call for the emergency room, and the patient will need a doctor to control the bleeding. Chest pain and difficulty breathing will also merit a visit to hospital or an emergency clinic, since such conditions may turn life-threatening at any moment, if they are not so already. A similar case can be made for a recent heart attack or stroke. And what about abdominal pain? Most cases of abdominal pain are actually harmless, but if that pain is sudden, sever, and or/long lasting, then it is time for emergency care. After all, the underlying cause may be serious, such as internal bleeding or even cancer.
It should also be noted that while emergency care can save a life, it is not intended for minor medical cases. Going to emergency care is often expensive and time consuming, and it is best reserved for patients who are in dire condition. An estimated 44-65% of all emergency room cases could have and probably should have been taken care of at an urgent c are center instead. But if it’s not clear what level of care a patient will need, taking them to a hybrid clinic may be the best call.
Going to Urgent Care Centers
Meanwhile, there are many reasons to look up “urgent care near me” and find a local clinic to visit. Urgent care centers and walk in clinics can handle a wide variety of minor medical problems, and several thousand of them have been built across the United States since the year 2000. These are small, independent medical sites that are staffed with nurse practitioners and physicians who can diagnose and treat a patient’s health issues, and visiting these clinics is often quick and affordable. Thus, urgent care is often known as “convenient care.” Many of these clinics can be found in strip malls, and some are also found in retailers (these are retail clinics) and some can be found built into hospitals.
A guest may visit an urgent care center to consult the pharmacy inside and get a prescription drug refill, and many shoppers do this at their convenience in retail clinics (such as in Target and Walmart). During influenza season, guests may arrive at urgent care centers to get medicinal relief from the common cold and flu, and some clinics might also host flu shot drives during certain times of the year. Four in five urgent care clinics can treat bone fractures, and nearly all of them can handle wrist and ankle sprains, too. The staff may also provide stitches and bandages for shallow cuts, not to mention lotion and ointment for sunburn or skin rash cases.
